when pope benedict xvi announced today that he would resign as pope, that he would abdicate the papacy, the move was greeted, frankly, with shock that something that has not happened in 600 years is happening right now. but it was also clear immediately that even though nothing like this has happened in 600 years, or 598 years to be exact, the catholic church nevertheless had a plan ready to go. even though no pope has resigned his seat since the year 1415, and this resignation announcement today from pope benedict was totally unexpected, despite all of that, there is apparently an agreed upon protocol for what happens in an instance like this. once pope benedict leaves the vatican on february 28th, the church says he will go live for a while in castel gandolfo, which is the pope's summer house in a small town outside of rome. he will live at that castle while construction work is done on a cloistered monastery inside the vatican complex. then when the construction is done, he will move back into the vatican. and living in that cloistered monastery, provided that papal cloistering is l